594 IX. CAROTENOIDS AND VITAMINS A 



(2) Deficiency Symptoms in Animals Other Than Alan 



a. Prenatal Effects of Vitamin A Deficiency. When the intake of vita- 

 min A is severely restricted during pregnancy, death and resorption of the 

 fetus have been shown to occur in rats and pigs. The maternal and 

 placental epithelia are also damaged. ^"^^ When the vitamin A deficiency is 

 less acute, the pregnancy may continue to term, but various abnormalities 

 associated with arrested development of the skeleton and of various organs 

 may be evident in the fetus. ^°^° Warkan}^ and associates^"^^"^"^'' described 

 many congenital malformations occurring in the offspring of vitamin A- 

 deficient rats. Approximately 75% of the young exhibited anomalies in one 

 or more organs. These abnormalities in\'olved the eyes predominantly, 

 and with decreasing frequency the genitourinary system, the diaphragm, 

 the major arteries derived from the embryonic aortic arch system, and 

 the lungs. The anomalies appear to arise during the process of organo- 

 genesis, and may be prevented by the administration of vitamin A 

 to the mother on the tenth to twelfth day of pregnancy. 



Other workers also reported anomalies of the heart and circulatory sys- 

 tem in rats born to vitamin A-deficient mothers. '"^^-^"^^ Andersen ^*^^^ 

 described a congenital diaphragmatic hernia in an inbred stock of albino 

 rats, which was aggravated (18.9% incidence) on a vitamin A-free diet, 

 or was inhibited (0.9% incidence) when \'itamin A Avas added to the mater- 

 nal diet. This is the first instance in w^hich an antenatal precipitating fac- 

 tor has been demonstrated as a result of the diet of the mother. 



In the experiments of Hale'"^* on pigs, reported by Warkany,^^^^ gilts 

 were kept before breeding on a vitamin A-deficient diet until deficiency 

 symptoms w^ere apparent, and were then given cod liver oil after thirty 

 days of pregnancy. The young born to these mothers exhibited malfor- 

 mations such as arrested formation of eyes at various stages, or even com- 

 plete absence of eye-balls, harelip, cleft palate, misplaced kidneys, and ex- 

 tra ear-hke growths. 



b. Postnatal Effects of Vitamin A Deficiency, (a) Effect on Epithelial 



lo'o K. E. Mason, Am. J. Anat., 57, 303-344 (1935). 



'"31 J. Warkany, C. B. Roth, and J. G. Wilson, Pediatrics, 1, 462-471 (1948). 



i«32 J. Warkany and E. Schraffenberger, Arch. Ophthalmol, 35, 150-169 (1946). 



1033 J. G. Wilson, C. B. Roth, and J. Warkany, Am. J. Anat., 92, 189-217 (1953). 



>«3^ J. Warkany and C. B. Roth, J. Nutrition, 35, 1-11 (1948). 



i«3B J. G. Wilson and S. Barch, Proc. Sac. Exptl. Biol. Med., 72, 687-693 (1949). 



1036 J. G. Wilson and J. Warkany, Pediatrics, 5, 708-725 (1950). 



1037 D. H. Andersen, Am. J. Pathol, 25, 163-184 (1949). 



1038 F. Hale, /. Heredity, 24, 105-106 (1933); Am. J. Ophthalmol, 18, 1087-1093 

 (1935); Texas State J. Med., 33, 228-232 (1937). 



■039 J. Warkany, Vitamins and Hormones, 3, 73-103 (1945). 



